There is often an incomplete knowledge about a telephone number of a person or an organisation as regards his or hers complete address(es) and/or telephone numbers, facsimile numbers, E-Mail-address or the like. When presented with an unknown telephone number, for example from a Calling Line Presentation device, there is an interest to know to what person/organisation this number belongs. There could also be an incomplete information about a persons address(es) and/or telephone and/or facsimile numbers and a need to have a complete set of numbers in order to reach the person in question. There could also be a need to know some special feature, such as the home address, without knowing all the other details about a person. Currently there is no simple way to search and retrieve this kind of information in real time and on a visual interface. For instance it is often necessary to call different telephone numbers to different operators in order to find out a certain telephone number for a person/organisation or to find out the subscriber of a particular telephone number.
The solutions to provide information related to the above mentioned technical field are nowadays:
Calling an operator, or an automatic system, and via a voice communication get information about someone""s telephone number(s) and postal address(es).
Calling an operator or an automatic system (through another telephone number), and via a voice communication get the owner of a certain telephone number.
Looking up a person or an organisation on an internet, i.e. a multiple network comprising several interconnected sub-networks, or in a telephone book and find his/her postal address and/or telephone/facsimile number or numbers.
The main problems with the prior known solutions are:
There are no visual solution (only voice) except for the internet solution for getting the information of the owner of a certain telephone number.
Telephone books are only updated once a year, and thus they normally contain many incorrect numbers and addresses.
Complete information of a customer""s communication addresses is not given.
Incomplete information from the user can not be handled.
Cellular radiotelephone communication systems could be provided with a network directory database. WO 9716935 discloses a method to search in this directory database from its radiotelephone using search criteria and to store identified telephone numbers in a memory in the telephone. The radiotelephone is provided with a keypad and a display on which the user can view the stored telephone numbers and place a call by marking a suitable number and using a dedicated function key. The search in the database is provided only to find telephone numbers related to the actual telephone system and not the other way around or to make searches in other kinds of networks.
An object of the invention is to provide a method and a device to be able to provide desired information about a person""s communication possibilities and/or residence in an easy way without any installation adapted to a particular kind of telephone system.
Another object of the invention is to provide a method and a device to provide information about a person, an organisation, a telephone number, a residence or the like on-line.
Yet another object of the invention is to provide a method and a device to provide a total search from the knowledge of a person or some communication data related to him/her.
Still another object of the invention is to provide a method and a device for a public network to provide databases having information with a guarantied degree of accuracy.
Another object of the invention is to provide a method and a device to provide databases, in a public network, which always have accurate and reliable information.
A method for directory services for telecommunication onto which the invention is based, comprises the following steps:
connecting terminal means (1) to a data network;
providing database means in the data network comprising catalogue data regarding subject information about persons/families/companies/organisations, and arranged so that catalogue searches using different search criteria can be performed,
providing means for interactive communication between the terminal means and the network regarding the database means;
asking for the desired information and adequate search criteria from the terminal means,
making the search, and
presenting desired catalogue data visually on a display of the terminal means asking for the subject information.
The method and device according to the invention is characterized by providing a reliable database outside the network only accessible and changeable only by admitted operating staff means, transmitting information from the reliable database to at least a reliable inside portion of the database means inside the network which portion is to be kept reliable.
At least two independent reliable database portions of the outside database means are preferably provided inside the network, both being provided with the information in the reliable outside database and updated when the information in the reliable outside database is amended. In this way it is guaranteed that there is a redundancy in the data network even if there is a failure in the system and that a person asking for information will have a good chance to get a proper one.
Instead of having two independent reliable database portions as copies of the reliable outside database or as a complement to this feature a monitor means could be provided between each reliable portion of the inside database means and the outside reliable database to supervise that the reliable portion of the inside database means has the same information as the outside reliable database.
An additional inside database portion not being supervised adapted for customers could be provided to add data regarding their own subject information present in the reliable database to be supervised. This makes it possible for a person/company or the like to add extra information about himself, the company or the like, such as another address and telephone number valid only for a short time, or an attractive article on sale etc. At least one of the inside database portions could be provided with an intelligent network (IN) providing alternative information if available and/or demanded. The intelligent network could be connectable to the menu and a person searching for information about personal data regarding persons or companies etc. could mark if he wishes to have just as little information as possible, basic data, around what he searches or full information. The search could also be made in steps in which the first step is basic information and the second is full information or there could be some steps with increasing amount of wished information there between. The data network is preferably of a public kind, such as an internet, an intranet or the like, being readable by anyone connected to the public data network. The database means in the data network could be at least two, and then a search engine means could be inserted in the data network to make search for the desired information among the database means.
Question menu means could be provided in the search engine means and be provided to the terminal means when activating a search for subject information by answering a question of the kind of desired subject information and knowledge about data usable for database search for finding the desired subject information is derivable. This makes it able to make a search using whatever knowledge available about a person for which data is to be searched.
One database or some or the databases in a database means is preferably provided with supervising means supervising that at least a secure part of their contents is reliable. This feature is a very useful one in an intranet or an internet, since some people using the network are inclined to make amendments in information inserted in the network. It is necessary to be able to have confidence in a telephone book or the like inserted into the network. Otherwise, such a database will not be used. A monitor means could then be placed between the part of the database to be supervised and a database having the same information which is changeable only by admitted staff means. An additional part being not supervised for customers could be provided to add data regarding their subject information in the database to be supervised. The changes in such registers could be done only by using a particular code word special for the customer in question.
Information on the security qualities of the information derived from the searched databases could be fed to the terminal means asking for the subject information, so that a mixing of fully secure data and doubted data could be mixed in the same search. It is an advantage to be able to search in all available databases having data about persons even though the information in some databases is doubtful. Information about a person or company or the like could sometimes only be found in such a way. However, it will then be useful to know the degree of security of the database providing the information.
The advantages as compared with the prior known solutions are:
A complete information of persons and organisations communication addresses is given automatically if desired.
The information media is an image on a display instead of voice.
Incomplete input information from a user may be used.
Possibility to divide data for a customer in two parts, one in which the customer himself can make changes (without introducing errors in the network if it happens to be wrong), and one which the customer never will be allowed to change.
A service in accordance with the invention can be opened quite fast since Internet access is commonly spread and directory service databases for telephone numbers and addresses already exist.